COLOMBO, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- The world's biggest book sale, better known as the "Big Bad Wolf book sale," got underway in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo on Thursday with 1.5 million books on sale.
Founded by Managing Director Andrew Yap and Executive Director Jacqueline Ng in Malaysia, the sale is aimed at encouraging the reading of English books at reasonable prices.
This year's sale, inaugurated in Colombo by Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, will be open 24 hours a day, providing book enthusiasts the opportunity to shop non-stop for 10 consecutive days. It will end on Oct. 15.
The Big Bad Wolf is backed in Sri Lanka by ProRead Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, a firm with a mission of spreading knowledge with affordable books, and is also supported by the Ministry of Education.
Nishan Wasalathanthri, director of ProRead Lanka (Pvt) Ltd. said that they were excited about the opportunities that the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale can offer avid Sri Lankan readers and parents.
"From the very beginning, we identified the need for a book sale of this nature in Sri Lanka, and we are positive that the visitors to the sale will be delighted with the choice of books available, as well as the many activities that we have lined up to encourage a more knowledge-sharing community," he said.
According to media reports, the Big Bad Wolf held its first sale in 2009 in Selangor state in Malaysia. It has also been held in Thailand and Indonesia.
